The Damned Series: Shades of Grey
by Percieve
Summary: There will always be light and darkness, black and white. But it is a hard lesson to learn that in life there are also shades of grey. NW
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the whole 'Night World' concept, the credit for that is received by the ever deserving L J Smith. But these characters are mine (excluding a few last names)

They say that life is never just black and white. Some are completely blind to these wise words.

Innocence is something you're born with, no matter who you are.

If you live a happy life, bringing no harm to others, surrounded by all those you love and always doing what is right, you're good.

But what about those who had their innocence corrupted the moment they were born? What about those who have their souls torn in two, and their hearts splintered?

What about those who are blessed with a curse?

The Damned?

There will always be light and darkness, black and white. But it is a hard lesson to learn that in life there are also shades of grey.

**The Damned Series:  Shades of Grey**

Prologue:

The water's smooth surface gave way as a raven haired girl emerged, gooseflesh appearing on her creamy skin exposed to the chill of the night. Her wet hair cascaded down her back in waves and as she moved, the midnight hair did not twinkle different colours as usual, but remained fathomless obsidian.

Smoothing away the hair plastered on her face, Lady Dominica hoisted her self onto the brittle and dry grassy banks with none of her usual graceful manner. Battle weary, with stinging cuts and fresh bruises, she detachedly dried off the sheen of water that clung to her bare body with her clothes and then donned the damp silk shirt and leather leggings.

The final battle still haunted her, even after a full moon phase. She knew that she would die now; she had used the Fury and summoned wraiths. Her deeds would hunt her, and she had no escape. She remembered her last, vengeful deed, and once more felt the Blackness coil inside her. The same Black Fury had formed in her, then slowly, as she danced and parried with Him, grew until it replaced the blazing white light that was in her mind. Until the image of her one love was replaced with Him. His high cheekbones, His burning eyes and sneering lips.

She remembered her hand trembling as she lunged at His heart with her weapon, His golden irises engulfed as the black pit opened up. In her mind she forced the hands of wraiths to choke Him, to reach their gnarled fingers into His soul and tear it to pieces, just as He had torn her. The Black Fury smoldered within her, shattering her very soul and demanding to be released on her enemy, on Him.

A stilted voice in the depths of her now glacial mind protested to the urge to let the Fury sweep down and destroy._ It will be your undoing. _But as Dominica looked in her soul, she saw that it was too late. She fleetingly tried to conjure up the image of her love but all that came was the fear in his eyes as he saw what she had chosen to become, the tremble in his voice as he tentatively spoke her name _…Monica?_. As though he couldn't believe that the monster, over taken by the Black Fury, was his beloved Dominica. As though he couldn't believe that he had once touched, let alone caressed her skin.

So now, Lady Dominica encased the stilted voice. Encased it in a black glacier because she would have her revenge. She would not only kill the man who had destroyed her, who had made her one love turn away from her in disgust and fear, but she would also let the Black Fury sear him with such pain that it would haunt Him in His next lives. She held His life line in her hands and with a tight laugh that was a witch's cackle compared to her former melodic richness, poured the Black Fury into Him.

Poured her poisonous soul into her rival. The Destroyer, who was now the destroyed.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the whole 'Night World' concept, the credit for that is received by the ever deserving L J Smith. But these characters are mine (excluding a few last names)

Chapter 1:

_The alleyway was dark and short. All too quickly the figure took the familiar sharp turn and stopped dead. She was silent, mesmerized by him. His throwback was red with the number 11 emblazoned in silver. Those very colours surrounded him right now, swirling around each other in a dance of their own._

_Leaping and twisting to her pulse._

_How she had arrived at this moment, she didn't fully remember. She thought it would have been ok; just to follow him, just to make sure that she was right. But now she was frozen, she couldn't move. She was trapped._

_And worst of all…he knew._

_He turned to face her. He was smiling but it didn't' enhance his looks. It was a cruel smile. One that showed hatred, contempt…and blood lust. She saw the monster unravel inside him, his canines elongating over his lower lip._

_Some part of her knew she should be running, far, far away. But instead she stood still as a statue, and watched him draw closer, his irises now completely silver. It was quiet astonishing; she had never seen silver eyes before. It was as though his eyes had a light of their own, illuminating his fine boned features._

_In those eyes she saw the lure of the night, beautiful and dangerous. She smelled something so intoxicating it made her want to step closer and drown in it. She also tasted something salty and metallic, something she recognized but also found oddly sweet._

_He bared his teeth in what she presumed to be a smile and reality came crashing down._

_The boy she had been following out of curiosity was not a mere child, but a monster._

_Panic shattered her reverie and she backed away from him. Slowly at first, but this seemed to make no difference to her pursuer. His strides never flattered and his teeth still gleamed. This time she threw all caution and reasoning to the empty air and pelted down the alley way onto the street._

_On she ran and ran, stretching her legs further and further. She turned down random corners, the reflections of street lamps on the windows of empty buildings the only things she saw. She sped past every house, leaping into puddles and crashing into gates. But it didn't matter how much noise she made, because everyone was asleep. Warm and comfortable in the twilight hour. She couldn't even scream because all her concentration was on breathing and running._

_Faster and faster she ran. She thrashed through trees and hedges, stumbled into back yards and over white picket fences. Her lungs and throat burned as she struggled to breathe, but her face and arms stung just as badly from the lashings of the wind on scratches and scrapes._

_From somewhere inside her she found more strength, more speed. She could scarcely see anything now, only darkness and vague shapes whipping past her. It felt as if her body had run a marathon through nations. She may have run for hours, minutes or somehow years and not known the difference._

_All she knew was fear._

_Fear for herself and fear for those who would face the very same thing in the future. She knew the monster behind her was not a figment of her imagination._

_He was very, very real._

_Just like she knew that no matter how far or fast she ran, he would always be the soft tapping of trainers behind her. It was this last thought that made her slow to a final stop. She was in a deserted parking lot._

_Wonderful, what a dignified place to die._

_Because that was what would happened. Whether it would be quick or slow she didn't know, but it was certain she couldn't possibly survive._

_Now that she had stopped running, it seemed that her body couldn't handle any oxygen at all. Her torso was heaving uncontrollably and soon she found herself on her knees, her face mere inches from the damp tar._

_After what seemed scant minutes of silence, her vision was filled with a white trainer, scratched and smudged. Shortly, a bent knee and long thigh covered by denim followed. She raised her eyes, squinting in the darkness to see the familiar red and silver throw back and well muscled arms. His face was pale in the stark lamp light as he squatted in front of her, but the surprise on it made him more human._

_Less threatening but still dangerous._

_His power was etched in all his features, from his clear calculating eyes to his soft yet stern mouth._

"_I didn't think you were this stupid, but seems I've once more overestimated humans." His conversational tone seemed to be sacrilege against the eerie silence that had descended, but that could also be because his voice sent shivers of a very bad kind down her spine. _

_With a disappointed sigh he dragged her up by the front of her tee-shirt and slammed her against a brick wall. The impact jolted through her entire being and several minutes afterwards she could still feel the vibrations in her bones. _

"_Well that jog has left me quite famished. A little snack is in order, don't you think?" His clear cut British accent made her want to burst out laughing; it was so strange coupled with her imminent demise._

_Images of her life still hadn't flashed in front of her, and neither could she see any light at the end of a long tunnel. A dream like peace had settled over her and only half of her was focused on what this monster was doing, the other half contemplating the many issues of a teenager._

_Like being chased down by a vampire, for example. Not exactly normal._

_This time she really did laugh out loud. Her life had been painstakingly normal, but she had liked it, it had been safe. On the fringes of her daily thoughts she had known that something like this would occur. Something so wild and dangerous that she couldn't even imagine it. She had known it as surely as the back of her hand._

_And now that the moment had arrived, she could do nothing. She felt strangely hollow, like she was… unfulfilled._

"_This is so…wrong" she said in a hoarse whisper._

"_Oh, but it feels so right" drawled the vampire huskily. _

_His soft lips descended upon her neck and he nuzzled there. He let out a faint sigh and suddenly his grip on her tee-shirt tightened, exposing the lower half of her stomach to the cold wind. But of course, she noticed none of this, all she felt was the scraping of what felt like blades across her collar bone. Her heart began to thump. Slowly, but strongly it hit the inside of her chest like it would break free any second. Her breathing increased. Short rapid breaths that left a thin veil of mist over the vampire's midnight hair._

_Dizzily she realised her arms were free. In the recesses of her mind she registered that this was a very stupid thing for her attacker to have done, but she exploited this advantage as subtly as possible._

_Reaching her arms up as far as they would go, she felt along the brittle bricks of the building wall for some sort of weapon-anything, that would get this wretched thing off her._

_As she felt the pin-points of his teeth begin to indent her skin, she began searching desperately. Please, she prayed silently to a god she had never believed in. Please, please let me find something…_

_Oh, he was making this painfully slow._

_She could feel her nerves sizzling and stinging as he applied the smallest of pressure very slowly. This was a new form of torture. One would never think it would hurt this much. This simple pressure, almost like an injection. But those fangs were no normal syringes. _

_Panic and pain began to take hold once more and she knew that all her suffering was…thrilling, to this creature. He had not started on the main course yet, still savoring the appetizer. He was feeding off her emotions._

_Finally her fingers brushed over something rough, but rickety and attached to the building itself. She ran her hand up along the object and realised it was a pipe. Without her mind fully registering her find, she fastened a strong grip onto the hand size cylinder and pulled._

_It came away surprisingly easy, the momentum carrying on until her hand and the broken piece of the drain pipe connected with the vampire's head._

_A familiar mist seeped in, coming out of the depths of the night to blur reality. Or what was thought to be reality. Then, came the real, present, rational thoughts._

_A dream, the usual dream._

_At least it's only a dream, and you're not re-living it._

_Finally as she started to feel her soft feather pillow cushioning her head, and the mists of sleep and dreams began to recede, something that had never happened before occurred. _

_Something that had not happened over half a year ago._

_The vampire seized the girl that was still pinned up against the brick wall, and all she could see was his eyes. Eyes that were now a swirling burgundy. _

"_Now you have no chance." He purred, his teeth seeming to lengthen even more._

"_Don't run, don't hide. I will find you." A dark promise._

_A promise that stabbed five hundred knives into her heart. Tearing the flesh away slowly until she saw there was no heart to pierce._

Breeze struggled for breath as she sat up gasping, wringing the bed sheets in panic. Clutching them to her chest desperately she took in her surroundings and sighed in relief, distinguishing her familiar bedroom basking in the moon light. Looking down at her tangled sheets she let out a small laugh. It was only a dream, _the_ dream. No, the nightmare. She wasn't really being hunted. She wasn't having her heart shredded to pieces. That memory gone wrong was just a creation of her wandering mind. Yes, that was it.

Breeze Photeinos was fine.

She let herself fall back onto her pillow, smiling slightly as she reveled in the smoothness of her sheets and softness of the mattress beneath her. Before her long lashes fell lazily across her face in dark crescents, Breeze glanced at the glaring red numbers of her digital alarm. 1:59 AM. Once again a small smile spread itself hesitantly across her eerily glowing complexion.

"Well, happy birthday to me." She whispered into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Firstly I'd like to say a big thank you to all my reviewers. You're the BEST!

And just to let everyone know, this story was previously called The Depths, but I've changed the title.

I'm also very, very sorry for taking this long to update. But I promise the updates will be more frequent from now on:)

Chapter 2:

A boy of medium height sighed in resignation as he stood in the hallway of his temporary school. Technically speaking, he in fact could not be considered a boy. He was a vampire, a lamia and royalty at that. By all rights he should be in an isolated enclave somewhere ruling over subjects and having humans as slaves to snack on every once in a while.

Logan Sahara sighed once more. Then again, life didn't always give you what you wanted.

With a scowl marring his darkly handsome features he commenced his second week on the job with one comforting thought.

Get this done, and then Las Vegas here I come!

The sky was pure and stunning. A light azure that mesmerized your gaze if only you took the time to look up and appreciate it. Stretching for an eternity, with no puffy clouds breaking its almost crystalline beauty. The very beauty that was amplified by the rays of sunlight beating down on the city of sails, Auckland.

And in this city, on this brightly lit day, a sixteen year old girl was strolling through her home.

Breeze took a steaming cup of coffee out of the microwave and wrapped her hands around it. The warmth from the cup spread through her body and she sighed. Oh but to have stayed buried under the covers this whole day. She would have given anything. But she had an important history assignment due in today. And this was an assignment she had stayed up countless nights doing, so she was not going to fail it just because she wanted to stay warm…or maybe she would.

The image of a huge 'F' scrawled on her report after hours of research made the decision for her.

Sighing she leaned back onto the breakfast bar.

The kitchen she was standing in was the very essence of modern. The sleek black breakfast bar behind her was complimented by two high stools with silver legs and black seats. On the other side of the square room stood a silver fridge. Similarly, the dishwasher and pantry were the same colour, whereas the tiles underneath her were an assortment of grey and white. Very modern indeed, but softened by Breeze's biology homework spread out across the breakfast bar. Other little knick-knacks and left-out food products gave the room a more homely feel.

Breeze jumped as the toaster popped up her bread. She crossed the kitchen and set her coffee down on the black bench that continued around the kitchen from the breakfast bar. Taking the lightly toasted slice out, she spread a layer of peanut butter, then strawberry jam. Folding it in two, she began to chew while lightly going through some exercises to keep her warm.

"Mmm, peanut butter, you're my real boyfriend!" she mumbled over a mouthful while arching her back.

"Don't you let Ethen hear you saying that." Breeze turned to find her aunt dressed in a tailored black suit and skirt with a pale blue silk blouse.

She shrugged. "He knows I love him…just not as much as my peanut butter. After a year, I think he's coping." She stated while making her self another sandwich. Her aunt visibly winced and hesitated in pouring her cup of coffee. Breeze turned her back on her aunt as nonchalantly as possible and checked the time on the clock hanging on the wall.

"Sweetie..are you…" Breeze rolled her eyes at the pause. This was something that happened regularly. "Sure?" she finished for her aunt. "Yes Maris, I'm positive. Look I'm not saying that I'm going to run off and marry Ethen right this minute, but I do love him. He is the one for me."

Breeze's aunt came to stand in front of her, the sleek black stilettos clicking softly against the tiles.

"Please don't start with me." Breeze said softly, her eyes still on the clock. "Look its almost quarter to eight, your going to be late for work." Her aunt sighed while Breeze put yet another slice of bread into the toaster.

"Well you're definitely right about the peanut butter." Picking up two empty plastic jars Maris squinted at them in the sunlight. "Goddess, you've sucked them dry haven't you? It's like these jars are brand new, just out of the store, except minus the peanut butter."

She glared sarcastically at her aunt and opened the fridge to find a new packet of bread and strawberry jam.

"Two days." Her aunt continued. "It's only been two days since I did the grocery shopping, and already you've gone through 2 whole jars. Haven't you heard of self control Breeze?"

"Of course I have." Breeze said indignantly while spreading peanut butter on another slice of toast. " I just don't exercise it when it comes to my breakfast."

"You mean breakfast, lunch and dinner." Maris shouted after her as she walked back into her bedroom. Breeze nearly choked on her toast. After several stunted coughs and gagging she finally managed to get the lump down her throat, just before her aunt re-entered the room with her bag and laptop in tow.

"I don't have peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and dinner!" she exclaimed in a wounded voice. Maris poured milk into a bowl of SpecialK cereal and sat down on one of the stools opposite Breeze.

"Yes, sure sweetie." She replied distractedly while looking through the herald. "Oh my, petrol's on the rise again." She mumbled to her self. "Anyway," she said as she looked up at her niece "now you better get ready for school, otherwise you'll miss your bus. Again."

"No I won't" Breeze grumbled as she made her way to the sink to wash up.

"Oh, and sweetie" Breeze looked back as a warm smile appeared on her aunt's face. It drastically changed her, Breeze thought idly. Her aunt was in her mid thirties, with a pale creamy complexion and sparkling aquamarine eyes. She was a tall and elegant woman, but Breeze always felt her aunt had too much responsibility. As the head of a major corporate business she was continually working late nights, and off again in the mornings. Although the rest of the world saw the immaculate Maris Benes, with glorious black hair tied intricately into a neat bun, and tailored suits. Breeze saw the woman who let her hair down to ease the migraine that had been plaguing her for days, or the woman running madly around the house in order to meet deadlines for other companies. The woman with bags under her eyes, the woman who occasionally needed foot rubs.

But her smile lit up her face. Her eyes shone bright so that the violet chips inside them became vivid, and all burdens automatically disappeared from her face. Her smile was infectious and Breeze found herself smiling back for no apparent reason.

"Yeah?" she asked, beaming at her aunt, her own eyes shining.

"Happy Birthday. I love you." Breeze tilted her head, looking at her aunt from an angle. "I love you too."

Twenty minutes later Maris had left with a goodbye kiss, and Breeze was packing her bag for school. Hefting her bag with a grunt onto her back she returned to the kitchen to finish her discarded cup of coffee. She lifted the cup to her lips, swallowed a mouthful of cold coffee and grimaced. Shaking her head, she re-microwaved it while putting her beef sandwich into her bag. She may have a school cafeteria, but that didn't mean the food was any good.

Hearing the beep of the microwave, she took the cup out and set it on the bench to cool a little. That was the moment she realised it was ten past eight. She was officially 10 minutes late for the bus, and 3 minutes from missing the next one.

In a hurry she lifted the cup to her mouth and took a huge gulp of the hot liquid. Immediately setting the cup down on the counter again Breeze ran down the carpeted hallway to the bathroom and unceremoniously spat the coffee out into the sink.

"Oh dear God!" she sputtered, her mouth still searing from the heat of the coffee. She turned on the cold tap and quickly rinsed out her mouth, making sure the icy coldness touched every part of her inner cheek.

Sighing in relief she looked up into her reflection in the mirror. A pair of bronze eyes looked back at her, the irises flickering as flecks continuously changed colour. Her skin was no longer pale and translucent, but tanned and glowing. She had changed immensely in the past six months. After three weeks of running through the streets and ghettos, she had found her way back at the beginning. Back with her aunt, where finally the realization had come to her. This is where I belong.

Today was special, and Breeze had tried to make an effort in her appearance but soon realised all of her cosmetic products were virtually non-existent, just enough foundation to cover up her bruises. No convenient excuses needed for today.

Breeze mentally rolled her eyes at the thought of what Nevada would say about her 'dressed-up' state.

All of that didn't matter though, because Breeze was in a good mood, and not even that nagging sense of foreboding in the back of her mind was going to ruin her chance of a good day. But maybe the 2 minutes she had to catch the bus would. Sprinting to the kitchen, Breeze picked up her bag and was out of her house in less that a minute. That must have been a record, she thought to her self. I don't think I've ever run this fast before. She smiled as she waved to her next door neighbor walking their dog. Hold on, I ran even faster last week, damn maths text book.

By the time Breeze reached her bus stop, she had cursed every textbook in her bag, and was pleased to see the bus pull up to the stop. Thankfully there were two other people at the stop, so the bus didn't whiz right past her as she walked to the doors.

"Just made it"

Breeze looked up to the source of theecho of her thoughtsand smiled politely at the guy in front of her. He was at least six foot with dull red hair and glasses. Good looking with fine features, his gravelly voice hadstruck a chord within her. It was obvious that he too was a poor soul that had woken up later than they were supposed to. Breeze had meant to get up at 7 today, but the snooze button had some sort of hold over her. No matter what, she had to press it at least 3 times before she got up. It was something she couldn't control, and something her aunt had long ago stopped trying to change.

Paying for her ticket Breeze made her way down the isle and took a seat near the centre of the bus. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the new guy walk past her with an easy grace and sit somewhere behind her.

Sighing she looked down at her hands and fingered her black rose thumb ring as a familiar sixth sense kicked into overdrive. He was one of them.

Rye Redfern watched his quarry step out of the bus and make her way into the school. She had changed since their last meeting. No longer the pale, skinny girl that he had met in the club. No longer the pathetic wench that had run from him. No longer the mysterious vermin that had somehow escaped him. His memories of that night were still vague, but he did know one thing for certain. Breeze Photienos knew of the Night World, and she had attacked him. It was time for him to give this vermin what was coming to her.

Except, apparently this girl wasn't as human as he thought she was. A lost witch, according to his contacts. But exactly what difference did that make? She was just vermin with a bit of fire power. She still deserved all the…wonderful fun he would have with her.

Rye steeped out from under the shade of the tall oak he was standing under and crossed the road towards Hilton High. His plan was to observe his quarry's day, and what better way to do this than attend her classes. Walking down to his locker, he saw the reflection of his new self in a window. Sunny blonde hair and bright blue eyes. How typical was this? But there was no point in complaining, the witch had done what she had been paid for. This glamour definitely looked nothing like him, and that was enough. Well it had to be.

Snorting in contempt, he moved down two more sets of lockers to find his own. After putting all his unwanted text books inside, he slammed the metal door and found a girl standing in front of her. A tight short dress hugged her curvy body and dipped scandalously low at the front. Examining his way up from her stiletto boots to her metallic blue hair, he smiled smugly.

"Hey blondie, don't think I've seen you before." Her voice was husky, but so obviously practiced that Rye almost walked away. Almost.

He was going to be here for a while, so why not have some extra fun on the side?

Laughing softly to himself, he moved towards the girl. This was going to be a very interesting day.

A/N:Guess who's got another chapter just waiting to be updated?

That's right….ME. So review and I swear it'll be given to you ASAP. It won't take anywhere near the length of time this one did!


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